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Prudently porky

Well, it’s been quite a couple of weeks, once again. Though work continues to occupy most of my waking thoughts (and many of my sleeping ones), I’ve still managed to keep my pointy-headed geek side fed with election and economic news as well. And I’ve been cooking, turning out lots of comfort food, mostly. It’s the perfect thing for the moment, with the nasty economic downturn, uncertain times ahead for many of us, and winter coming on strong. Comfort food is accessible, imminently affordable, adaptable and delicious to boot.

I’ve really been making an effort to buy quality ingredients and eat locally since reading about the abuse at large-scale farms and slaughterhouses. I just can’t stomach the thought of contributing to that kind of depravity, so when I got an email from the Bobolink folks announcing the sale of their whey-fed pork, I placed an order for some of the nasty bits that are pretty hard to find, anyway — feet, knuckles, and necks.

For my first meal, I made a basic, but delicious pork neck ragu shamlessly ripped off from inspired by Jen‘s post from […]

This is a public service announcement

I’m a big fan of Apartment Therapy‘s food blog, The Kitchn; they post frequently about a wide range of subjects and I’ve found quite a few recipes there that have gone into regular rotation in our home. Unfortunately, this isn’t one of them.

The post linked to Gourmet’s Cumin-Apple Crisps and a bright idea was born as I realized: “Hey, I love apples and I’m totally into cumin!” Unfortunately, I love apples so much, I didn’t have any in the house. I decided to use a bosc pear instead, which might’ve led to my latest kitchen disaster (though I suspect the unholy union of cumin and sugar contributed).

Out came the mandoline — my favorite kitchen toy — and I sliced one of the pears, snatching a few thin slivers for myself along the way. I sifted the cumin and sugar together, sampling a tiny bit before sprinkling it over the crisps; it was horrible, but I hoped some wondrous alchemy would take place in the oven and continued with the recipe.

Ninety minutes later I realized just how misplaced my optimism was, as my […]

Apple crisp, improved! Whatchu say?

Soooo, where were we, anyway? Oh, right — I went into an end-of-the-summer-I-never-got-to-enjoy funk, and took to tending my vapors on the chaise in diaphanous dresses, as any proper Southern Woman should. OK, not really, but I love the ridiculous picture that paints. (“Gil, do be a dear and bring me a glass of water with just one ice cube — shaved — and a paper-thin slice of lemon. And no blood on the citrus this time, if you don’t mind tooooo terribly?”) As luck would have it, the work schedule that’s been eating me alive is going to get So Much Better soon that I started to come out of my funk last weekend and snapped a few pictures of the goings-on in my kitchen.

And what was going on, my friends, was making a little something called apple crisp. Maybe you’ve heard of it? Seven years ago I hit upon the nearly-perfect recipe for this dessert, made minor modifications, and that was that. It’s something Gil requests almost weekly during fall and winter months, so I’d say it’s one of the few clear winners ever […]